Iowa 31, Princeton 10
With 8,000+ in attendance for the opening dual our #3 Iowa Hawkeyes beat up #16 Princeton Tigers. It was another stellar dual and a great way to kick off the season at Carver. We now sit at a perfect record of 3-0. Undefeated baby!!!
125: #1 Spencer Lee tech. fall #13 Pat Glory, 18-2. Iowa 5-0
133: #8 Austin DeSanto pin Jonathan Gomez, 3:26, Iowa 11-0
141: #17 Max Murin pin Marshall Keller, 4:24. Iowa 16-0
149: #1 Matt Kolodzik dec. #12 Pat Lugo, 7-4. Iowa 16-3*
157: #15 Kaleb Young dec. Quincy Monday, 7-4. Iowa 19-3
165: #4 Alex Marinelli pin Dale Tiongson, 3:55. Iowa 25-3
174: Travis Stefanik major dec. Myles Wilson, 15-3. Iowa 25-7
184: #13 Cash Wilcke dec. Kevin Parker, 8-3. Iowa 28-7
197: #7 Pat Brucki dec. Connor Corbin, 10-3. Iowa 28-10
285: Aaron Costello dec Obinna Ajah, 6-0. Iowa 31-10
*There was a coaching misconduct that lost us a team point.
Match Notes:
- Spencer Lee got things rolling early like usual, but it wasn’t usual how he claimed his third technical fall in three tries on the season. After a quick takedown and a couple tilts he gave up a reversal to #13 Pat Glory, who promptly returned him with a double leg and continued to ride tough for 25 seconds or so and forced a 2nd period. Yes a 2nd period, because Lee has yet to wrestle over three minutes. Either way, Lee poured it on in the 2nd and won 18-2. You could tell Lee was a bit frustrated with the effort. Perhaps he was looking past him or just got sloppy? He won’t repeat this mistake again.
- DeSanto looked tough. It was a tight first period, but ADS kept the pressure on and had heavy hands and quick feet. Eventually he broke through and didn’t look back. He’s quickly becoming a fan favorite and we have another dynamo 1-2 punch at the top of our lineup.
- Murin locked up the same cradle he pulled last week and ended another match early. He looks good, real good.
- Lugo had the toughest assignment of any Hawkeye tonight and came close to pulling off the upset. Problem is, he still looks a bit slow to me. Perhaps he’s still nursing an undisclosed illness? Regardless, he looked much better than he did last week and was down 5-4 and TD away from taking the lead in the closing seconds. He attempted a hip over on the edge of the mat that didn’t go his way, thus giving up another 2 as time expired. He’s now 1-2 to start his Iowa career, but don’t give up on him yet! If he continues to be that solid against elite competition Lugo is going to be in the mix for a very high AA finish come March.
- I give Young all the credit for hanging in there, and getting the W, but this is the Young that frustrated us so much last year. He wasn’t aggressive on his feet and was slow to react. Quincy Monday is a pure athlete in a singlet and Young was fortunate this didn’t get away from him. Thankfully, he knows what he’s doing from the top position and rode Monday into Tuesday. His top game won him this match and that does look much improved from last year.
- The Bull did what the Bull does. Sees red and devastates. After toying with his prey he found the cement mixer and dropped Tiongson straight to his back. We all knew Marinelli had the pin in him, but going straight from his feet to the back with this type of consistency is a huge move to have. We’re going to see this several more times this year.
- Myles Wilson really struggled. After his strong performances last week, I truly didn’t see this one coming. On what appeared to be an ill-attempted high crotch he got caught and taken to his back for a quick six points. From there, he never recovered. I truly feel if that big move could have been averted this would have been a much closer match down the stretch. Alas, it wasn’t and it turned into a beat down. Sometimes when you go off the rails early, there’s just no getting back on. Your only hope is hitting the big move and often times that sets you up for more failure. Today, that happened to Mr. Wilson. He’s a much better wrestler than what we saw tonight and he’s going to prove that to us.
- Cash Money had a battle with Kevin Parker, but the end score won’t reflect that. It wasn’t the most of inspiring wins, but a win nonetheless. Wilcke had some slick moves, especially a late duck under, but I would’ve liked to see him hit these earlier on. I would’ve loved to see this turn into a major and I think that’s something they’re going to continue to work on as the season progresses. When we start facing stiffer competition we’re going to need those additional team points.
- Corbin may be the strongest guy in the room, but he still wrestles like a redshirt freshman. I suppose that’s because he is one. Point is, all guys at this level are strong, so rely on technique instead pure brute strength to get it done. At least he kept at it and gained back a late point to keep it a decision. Had this match gone 8 minutes instead of 7 he may have been able to mount a comeback. He at least has a bottomless tank and stays at it.
- Constello looked pretty good, but I do question the two quick stall calls against Ajah. Ajah took the early shots but Constello continued to push him out to get the cheap point. It was an odd series of events. Anywho, our Grizzly Man wore Ajah down to a quivering mush of nothingness, but failed to turn him and get the pin the crowd was going absolutely nuts for. He had several deep arm bars and a power half, but couldn’t do anything with it. Ajah was begging to be turned, but Costello couldn’t give him his dying wish. It was a bittersweet win. One we wanted, but one that should’ve book ended the night in bonus points.
Up next we take on Purdue at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, November 24. The bodies hit the floor at 12 pm CT. Don’t be late otherwise you’ll miss the first 11 points!